Currently, handheld devices exist that control various electronic devices. For example, there are remote control units to control a television set (TV), a video cassette recorder (VCR), or a compact disc (CD) player, to name just a few. There are individual remote control units to control these devices individually and there are universal remote control units that allow several devices such as the TV, VCR, and CD player to all be controlled by one remote control unit.
As technology advances, electronic devices are decreasing in size, which allows several devices to fit into one portable device. For example, a portable device may contain both a TV set and a VCR, or a portable device may contain a dual audio cassette tape player/recorder, a radio, and a CD player. These devices typically have several keys or buttons each having a single dedicated function for one operating part of the device. For instance, a button that controls the playing of a CD in the CD player portion of the device would not also control the playing of an audio cassette tape in one or both of the dual audio cassette tape player/recorder.
Currently, many features of today's portable devices are difficult to access because growing complexity results in increased number of key strokes being required to execute any given function. These key strokes often have no obvious relationship to the intended function. At the same time, as physical dimensions of portable devices decreases, the number of control keys used to operate them also decreases. For example, to display an individual call timer within a typical prior art portable telephone requires the following three key entries in sequence: "RCL", "#", and "#". To display a resettable timer within the same portable telephone requires four key entries in sequence, namely: "RCL", "#", "#", and "#". Since these two functions and their respective key entries are very similar, it would be very easy for the user to confuse the two functions.
Typically each device requires a separate user interface which is often cryptic and user unfriendly. As technology advances, rendering devices more affordable, users begin to own more and more of these small user-unfriendly devices. Thus, integrated devices are created to reduce clutter and improve the user interface. Nevertheless, as the number of integrated tasks within a single device grows due to advances in technology and manufacturing, it will become increasingly difficult for a user to execute a given function due to an increase in the number of key strokes required.
Accordingly, there is a need for an apparatus and a method of providing a selection of tasks and/or functions on a display that integrate a large number of tasks within a single portable device and provides easy navigation within the tasks.